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Joining Rods Together

Learn how to join the rods together to form the coat rack.

From "Freeform Furniture"
episode DFFF-207

Host Amy Devers joins the rods together to make the form of the coat rack. She uses a method called "tack welding" to join the rods. Once the rods are together, she sands up any rough areas to get the rack ready for painting.

Amy creates this one-of-a-kind coat rack.

Room: Before

Room: After

Amy continues the project by joining the five rods together.

Materials:

steel rods
face shield
earplugs
tubes
gloves and leathers
dark goggles
wire brush
abrasive coated sponge
degreaser
tan enamel spray finish
primer
respirator
oil-based primer
synthetic brush
plastic dip
ruler
melamine box
paper funnel

Tools:

jig
blowtorch
clamp
chop saw
vice
stand with a roller
TIG welder

Figure A

Figure B

Joining Rods Together

You need to create a weld that is used specifically to join two pieces of metal together.
Clamp the two rods together with stand hand clamps to keep it steady as you weld.
With the TIG welder, add on two tack welds at the end of each rod, and then weld on two at the center of the middle length of the rod (figure A).
Note:Unlike the blowtorch you used earlier, the TIG welder uses a wire electrode with the metallic mineral known as Tungsten at the tip. When fused with electricity, Tungsten allows for a more precise and stronger weld.
Safety Tip: It is important to never look directly at the weld with your naked eye because you could seriously damage your vision.
As you work your way around the piece, continue to re-clamp, and then tack weld the five rods together until the form for the coat rack is complete.
The rough area is called scale and discoloration and before you apply the paint, you need to give it a light sanding to clean it up.
Use an abrasive coated sponge to help you conform to the curves and get in all the cracks and clean up all the metal.
After sanding, there is metal dust and oil on the rods that needs to be removed (figure B). Use a simple degreaser and wipe down the clean area.